Govt plans single bill for all utilities

The idea is to synchronise and complete the billing cycle of all utilities — such as water,electricity,phone (both fixed line and cellular) and cooking,among others — on the same day.

Once implemented,instead of sending individual bills to your house,the different agencies will have to send it to the Jeevan centre,run by the government’s IT department.

While you have to pay the consolidated bill amount at one of the city’s 280 Jeevan centres,or pay it online through Jeevan’s website,the government will further disburse the amounts to each agency or company,officials said.

Payments can be made by depositing cheques or cash at Jeevan centres or using credit or debit card on its portal.

According to Dr A K Singla,project director of Jeevan and brain behind the idea,consumers will first have to log on to Jeevan portal and register for a “Green ID”.

The Jeevan centres were constituted as a step towards integrating all services.

Under the plan,the centre will generate a single sheet of bill giving brief details of expenditure incurred on various utilities. Consumers can also opt for a mini-green bill that will be sent on their mobile phones,Singla said.

All stakeholders — including power distribution companies BSES and NDPL,telephone service providers MTNL,Airtel,Vodafone and Idea,Indraprastha Gas Limited,and Delhi Jal Board — will meet on Wednesday to discuss the green bill concept.

Besides making bill payment easier,Singla said the concept is also a step towards saving the environment. “Even by a conservative estimate each household gets nearly 100 sheets of paper each year as bills and envelopes,” Singla said.

“If they make use of green bill they will save at least one tree in their lifetime.”

The impact could be much larger,say experts. According to the website http://www.greenbill.com,if you get 10 pages of bill each month,then switching to e-bills for three years can save at least 1 pound of paper,10 gallons of waste water discharged,11 gallons of gas,265 pounds of greenhouse gases. The effort can save three trees,the website says.

Although e-bills are available for most services now,studies have found only 1 per cent or 2 per cent of consumers choose the option. Officials said the government also plans to offer incentives like lucky draws and lottery to promote green bills,when the concept is introduced.

Singla said,“A mobile firm,for example,spends Rs 20 to Rs 25 on sending each bill. Through Jeevan,this cost will come down (but) instead of giving them the entire share of profit,we will share it with consumers to motivate them.”

A problem area,though remains the agreed date by which all utilities will have to prepare their bills and send it to the Jeevan centre. While it is not expected to be too much of a trouble for telephone service providers because their data is immediately recorded,experts said problems might arise for water,power and gas utilities.

These agencies will have to generate bills based on past consumption data,or rely on self-reporting by consumers.